Leadless pacemakers and their delivery systems are a new technology. Current leadless pacemaker delivery systems are single-use and designed to implant a single leadless pacemaker in the patient heart. Once the leadless pacemaker is implanted into the cardiac tissue, the delivery system can no longer be reused for additional implants and must be disposed of. This single-use system configuration is disadvantageous.
For example, if the physician needs to implant multiple leadless pacemakers into the patient, as may be the case with a dual chamber leadless pacemaker arrangement, the physician will require at least two separate delivery systems to deliver both leadless pacemakers. This need for multiple delivery systems results in increased cost to the manufacturer and the end user. Specifically, the manufacturer needs to manufacture and maintain inventory for at least twice as many delivery systems for a dual chamber leadless pacemaker implant, and these additional costs for multiple delivery systems are passed to the end user. This situation results in significant, avoidable costs and waste.
There is a need in the art for a system for delivering multiple leadless pacemakers for implantation in a patient heart, wherein the system is reusable to allow for the delivery of multiple leadless pacemakers. There is also a need in the art for related delivery methods.